iPhone/iPad iOS music making app round-up: Week 15

25th Nov 2010 | 16:32

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iOS 4.2 exploited

Looking at this month’s round-up as a whole, two things become apparent. Firstly, if you want access to all the best new music-making apps, you’re going to need an iPad; and secondly, you’d better make sure that this is updated to iOS version 4.2, which brings native MIDI support. Keep reading for all the details.

One Red Dog Media Molten Drum Machine, £5.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 3.2 or later)

A new iPad drum machine that (in terms of design) vaguely reminds us of iZotope’s iDrum on the Mac and PC. The big sell here is that steps in the sequencer can be divided up, giving you more rhythmic flexibility (you can create tuplet-based patterns, for example). Synthesis and samples are used for sound generation, and MIDI is supported if you’ve got iOS 4.2. Check out the demo video.

Domestic Cat MIDI Touch, £10.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

A MIDI controller app with a difference: in this one, you can design your own custom surfaces by placing knobs, sliders and other controls on the interface. It promises to deliver low-latency Mac/PC MIDI performance over Wi-Fi, and you can hook-up other MDI hardware physically using Apple’s Camera Connection Kit.

Saitara Software AC-7 Core, £2.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

Remember Saitara’s AC-7 Pro app? That was one of the first iPad control surface apps, and now the company has returned with a version that takes advantage of iOS 4.2’s support for CoreMIDI. You get controller ‘modes’ for all the major DAWs plus a generic setting for other software. Video demo here.

Anything Honest Amos, £1.79

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

Billed as a “reactive MIDI instrument,” Amos (Another MIDI OSC Source) promises to cross MIDI wind chimes with a pinball machine. You’re presented with a simulated room in which collisions between objects trigger MIDI notes that are sent to your DAW over Wi-Fi. It sounds quirky to say the least… and look - it’s another iOS 4.2 exclusive.

Fotoh LLC Sample Lab, £4.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

A sample editor and 8-track sequencer are included here. You can sample directly into the app (or import your own files), and pitch up or down two octaves without getting the chipmunk effect. Trigger pads, FX and beatslicing are also on the agenda.